


The Greatest Ambition

by silveradept



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anachronic Narration, Draco Malfoy Does Good Work, Gen, Non-Binary Neville Longbottom, Trans Female Luna Lovegood, Transmisic Parents, Xenophilious Lovegood Defies Categories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22812316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/pseuds/silveradept
Summary: What started as a study group for Transfiguration has become a support group for the many students who wish to live as the people they are. Without intending to, Luna has become more than just their tutor.
Relationships: Hannah Abbot & Luna Lovegood, Luna Lovegood & Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood & Original Character(s), Neville Longbottom & Luna Lovegood
Comments: 26
Kudos: 102
Collections: HP TransFest 2020





	The Greatest Ambition

**Author's Note:**

> Beta Read by: [BlueEagle](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/BlueEagle)  
> Sensitivity Read by [NeonTinkerbell](https://www.archiveofourown.org/users/NeonTinkerbell)
> 
> Because Hogwarts is a place for all students.

NOW:

"HellomynameisBonnieandIusesheherpronouns," the student said, the words tumbling out in a rush, cheeks reddening.

Luna nodded, then focused on a point above Bonnie's head and waved her hands in that general direction. "Wrackspurts," she declared. "They get to us at times when we're feeling stressed. They're good for fogging our brains and making us rush."

Bonnie looked where Luna's focus was, but she couldn't see anything.

"Shall we try again?" Luna said brightly.

Bonnie nodded. "My name is Bonnie," she said, slower, "and I use she/her pronouns."

"Welcome, Bonnie. I'm Luna. I also use she/her pronouns. Does anyone else want to do introductions?" Luna said, scanning the assembled students.

* * *

THEN:

It had started, as many things did, with an article in the _Daily Prophet_ about "unregistered Animagi infiltrating Wizarding society," and when that failed to get enough of a rise, proceeded to devote several pages to "the Polyjuice Potion epidemic," complete with disingenuous statements about "addiction to shape-change" and "what they are teaching in Transfiguration these days." _The Quibbler_ had fired back immediately, saying that students should be supported in _all_ of the learning they would undertake at school, and that any person advocating for sending students to face a boggart without the proper spells should be sacked immediately.

After reading her father's riposte, Luna had gone to think. She had found Hermione Granger in her usual space in the library, over by Thought and Memory. Several quills were taking notes and writing plans as Hermione opened, skimmed, and shuffled books around, with other books serving as a deterrent and gate to the fortress of her mind. Hermione Granger thought like a Gryffindor, even if she researched like a Ravenclaw, and Luna could hear lions roaring in her work.

So Luna went to see Barnabas.

* * *

NOW: 

Luna focused her attention on the next student, who had slowly stood after a few encouraging pokes from the students on either side.

"My name is…Matthew," the student said, squeaking slightly at the name. "And…could you use they/them pronouns for me?"

Luna nodded. "Hello, Matthew," she said, smiling. "Would anyone else like to say hello to them?"

"It's that easy?" Matthew said.

"If you would like it to be more difficult, there are plenty of students out there who will happily oblige you, but in here, yes, it's that easy."

Matthew sat back down as the students on either side clapped them on the back.

* * *

BEFORE: 

"Oh," Hannah Abbott said, nodding. "How many?"

"Six, at least."

Hannah's lips set in a firm line. "I don't understand. If it were just the Slytherins, I'd blame it on poor breeding, but this is different."

"All of our houses are blessed with people with all kinds of ideas," Luna said diplomatically.

Hannah snorted. "I know Hufflepuff is seen as the house you end up in when you can't be in any other house, but one nice thing about that is that it makes us the house where _everyone_ is welcome. And if that's not happening, we need to work harder until it is." Hannah's eyes glinted with determination.

"What are they telling you, Luna?" Hannah asked, leading Luna into the kitchens. "What can they teach us?"

* * *

BEFORE THAT: 

"Miss Lovegood," Professor McGonagall said. "How may I assist you?"

"I want to apply for the Transfiguration Student Tutor position," Luna replied, hoping her voice carried confidence, even if her knees weren't.

Professor McGonagall swept her eyes up and down Luna for a moment before speaking. "There is an open position on Tuesdays, which should, if I understand your schedule correctly, fall between your Charms and Divination classes. Is that acceptable?"

Luna blinked. "Yes, Professor," she said.

"Good," Professor McGonagall replied. "Find whatever space and supplies you need. If someone objects, send them to me."

Luna nodded again, but her legs seemed very uninterested in moving.

"Is there something else?" Professor McGonagall asked, fixing her gaze on Luna.

"Professor," Luna managed to say, "I thought you needed an interview."

"Miss Lovegood," Professor McGonagall replied sternly, "we both know that you possess more than the requisite skill required in Transfiguration. Furthermore, I have observed you on several occasions successfully helping Neville Longbottom understand the intricacies of the art, and therefore it is clear you can teach at least at the level of a tutor. An interview would be a waste of both of our time for the sake of a formality. You begin next Tuesday. I will make the announcement in class."

"Thank you, Professor," Luna managed, after a long pause. When Professor McGonagall turned back to her paperwork, Luna’s feet returned to her control and she left.

* * *

NOW:

"Miss Lovegood—" one of the students said after introductions.

"Luna," she replied automatically. "Please call me Luna. Remind me of your name?"

"Calvin. I heard that you gave hugs."

"Always. Do you need one?"

Calvin nodded, face scrunched up like he was ready to cry. Luna swept over to him at the back of the room and hugged him tight. As she expected, tears started to land on her shoulder, punctuated by sobs.

"They told me I should have been sorted into Hufflepuff," Calvin said. "So I could be with my fellow freaks."

Calvin continued to cry while Luna hugged him. Eventually, the tears dried and the sobs stopped enough for them to separate.

"What did the Hat say to you?" Luna asked gently. "If you want to share."

"The greatest ambition is found in those who wish to live as they are, without fear, without pretense, and without compromise," Calvin quoted. "And then sorted me to Slytherin, the house where I was guaranteed to get called 'mudblood', 'butch', and whatever they can think of at the time, when there aren't ears around to cost them points or give them detention. I can even deal with the care packages from home that assume I'm still a girl. But the letters, they're the worst. My parents refuse to use my name or acknowledge that maybe I never was or wanted to be a girl."

“I was never particularly fond of being a boy,” Luna said. “I was still scared of asking my father to refer to me as his daughter, though. I think he was looking forward to bonding with me over summer Quidditch matches, chasing the nargles off, and learning how to braid our hair and talk about boys.”

Calvin blinked. “Isn’t that last one usually for girls?”

“So I’ve found,” Luna said. “My father claimed that all the men in his family have always had very long hair. And, apparently, an appreciation for the male form. Or, at least, the idealized, stylized form that one finds in classical painting and sculpture.” 

“Bisexuality?” Calvin suggested.

“No,” Luna said, shrugging. “When I suggested the possibility, my father told me he wasn’t attracted sexually to any men, but instead was in love with the Platonic ideal of them. I continue to suggest useful terminology as I encounter it, but he has yet to say that any particular label is the one he wishes to use.”

“Your father is the one who writes _The Quibbler_ , right? He seems like the kind of person who can accept anything.”

“He can,” Luna said, smiling. “It’s one of the things that I love about him. He has very few preconceptions about the world, which makes him able to discern the true nature of many problems other people think are unsolvable.”

“Did he already know you were a girl?” Calvin asked.

“I’m not sure,” Luna replied. “And even if he did, he wasn’t going to tell me what he thought I was. My mother was fond of experimentation with spells, so perhaps he thought of my early feelings as experiments as well. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t frightening to come out to him. Some parents are reasonable and rational creatures for everything except their children, and there was always the possibility that I was unlucky enough to have one of those parents.”

Calvin sat heavily in his chair, sighing. “My parents think I’m experimenting, too. They think that one day I’ll wake up, decide that I was just pretending to be a boy, and take my place as another dutiful daughter of the family.” 

His face twisted, brows furrowing and mouth forming a tight scowl. Luna’s heart surged in sympathy. She had seen that kind of anger regularly with the younger students, almost always directed at the people who should have been the most supportive of their children. “Last summer break,” he started, “Mum made me pack up all of my trousers and shirts, took me to the charity shop, and made me watch while she donated them. After that, she forbade the clerks from selling any more to me, claiming she would have them charged with aiding in the delinquency of a minor. And then she took me shopping for dresses and skirts to replace them with, claiming we were going to have a great ‘girls’ day’ to ourselves.”

"That's unacceptable," Ginny Weasley boomed, announcing her presence to the study group. 

"Ah, there you are!" Luna said, smiling brightly. Luna gave Ginny a hug and waved her up to the front of the room. 

Calvin gave Luna a final hug from the chair before Luna went to join Ginny at the front of the room. "We have a guest for this session, everyone,” Luna said. “I’ve managed to secure the help of one of the most brilliant minds of our generation at the fine art of proportionate retribution through the application of hexes, Ginny Weasley."

* * *

SOON:

"What do you want me for?" Neville said, laying their shears on the table and turning to face Luna.

"I'm rubbish at Herbology and Potions, Neville." Luna protested. "Papa, well, he blames decimalization, but I guess I take after my mother more than I realize. It's very hard for me to memorize figures and follow procedures exactly." Luna turned her head aside, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"And?" Neville prompted.

Luna sighed. "I'm not sure they all believe me. If I could show them that non-binary people can look like anyone, I think more of them would feel like they're welcome."

"Why _this_ idea, Luna?"

"Because they have to go home, Neville. Like Harry does. And some of them go home to houses like Harry's. They can't use their magic there. They can’t be a part of a study group at home, whether it’s mine or the D.A. that Harry started to teach D.A.D.A." Luna paused. "And because you would never leave an invisible dusk-blooming chokevine unattended unless it was secured."

"How…right, thestrals," Neville said, shaking their head. "And I wouldn’t go around calling it Dada. People might think it was absurd.” 

Luna beamed at Neville. “You understand!”

Neville shook their head again, deciding to get back to the task at hand rather than follow Luna down the rabbit hole. “All right, I'll help you with the herbs, but if you want someone for potions, you should ask Draco."

"I thought you two didn't get along," Luna said, surprised by the suggestion.

"We don't, but I have yet to see him get anything less than an Outstanding on his Potions exams. For what you're proposing, you want the best, and he is."

"Thank you, Neville." Luna kissed Neville on the cheek and headed toward the Slytherin common room.

* * *

RELATIVELY QUICKLY AFTER, AS THESE THINGS GO:

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." Neville said, their voice shaking a touch. "Dumbledore told me that at the end of my first year, and now I am telling you: what you are doing is incredibly brave."

"As much as it pains us both to admit it, I agree with Longbottom," Draco added. "As students, we are expected to be silent and learn, and to trust that those above us have our best interests at heart. To seize our own destinies and declare that we know best for ourselves is not to be taken lightly."

"Does Professor Snape know we're here?" Bonnie asked from the back.

"He does," Neville replied. "As far as he knows, however, you are all here learning how to 'properly make the potions you have so dismally failed at producing in his class.' "

Some of the students giggled at Neville's phrasing, imagining Snape uttering those words.

"Shut up and listen," Draco snapped. "Done right, this potion, taken at regular intervals, will give you time to decide what…pathway you want to take toward becoming an adult. Mess it up, and a stay at St. Mungo's will be the least of your worries."

"Madam Pomfrey is keeping a very close eye on this," Neville said. "She's tentatively agreed to let us do this, but she insists that for anything else, you should see a Healer."

"Will the Healers actually help?" Calvin asked pointedly.

"Plan as if they won't, tell each other who will," Draco cut in as Neville's silence stretched on. "Enough questions. You have a recipe on the paper in front of you. Do not work ahead."

Draco lit the fire underneath his own cauldron and began to lecture.

* * *

LATER:

"The hardest part about casting a Patronus is that it requires a connection to happiness," Luna said. "When you've spent your years asking for your shoes and things back from the people in your house and being mocked because you are different, finding happiness requires work."

"Imagining happiness in the future is not enough," Hannah added. "As wonderful as it is to envision your ideal future, the Patronus draws from more primal sources."

"Happiness born of vengeance will twist the magic," Ginny pointed out. "As satisfying as it is to see your enemies crushed beneath you, the Patronus requires genuine happiness."

"A single memory is enough," Neville said. "The first time someone said 'I can help them' about me made my heart jump. Expecto Patronum." A silver wisp emanated from Neville's wand, quickly building and resolving into a griffin resting on its paws.

"The first time I grabbed a Snitch and heard the cheers," Ginny said. "Expecto Patronum." Silver billowed out of Ginny's wand, creating a large cloud of mist before resolving into a dragon, wary and alert.

"The first time someone told me their name and pronouns, because they trusted I would get it right," Hannah said. "Expecto Patronum." Silver burst forth from Hannah's wand before resolving into what could only be described as a war badger.

"Mum," Luna said, quietly. "She would be so proud of all of you and encourage you to keep experimenting. Expecto Patronum." A silver hare leapt from Luna's wand, dashing about the room as the students looked on in awe.

Luna beamed at the students.

"Your turn."


End file.
